Chapter 70
Another sip of wine, and Bethany’s voice evened out. “I’m supposed to work until five thirty, but my boss always, alwayscalls me into his office at quarter past to go over something, and then I end up staying until six or later. If it’s a Tuesday, we have staff meetings at five that run until seven. No one else seems bothered by it, so I pretend I’m not, either. I can’t be all like, oh, I’ve got to go, when the rest of the staff is still hard at work, you know?”
“So you stay until all hours of the night,” Dana asked, “for what, to look good?”
Bethany shrugged. “Partly, yeah. And so when a better position come available, they think of me and move me up.”
Dana let the wine glass fall on its side as she tossed her head against the back of the couch. “God, look at you. You have it all figured out, don’t you?”
“What?” Bethany gave her a funny look. “No, I don’t. Far from it, honey.”
“You’ve got a great job,” Dana went on, “and you’re trying to get a promotion. By this time next year, hell, they’ll be sending you to work in France.”
Bethany laughed. “I wish.”
As far as Dana was concerned, there was nothing funny about the idea. “And I’ll be stuck here. Or worse, back home in BFE. What am I supposed to do with my life, Bethy? Tell me.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Bethany’s hand covered Dana’s knee.
Maybe it was the wine, but at her friend’s touch, a comforting warmth spread through Dana’s thigh and set her crotch tingling. When Bethany patted her knee, each tap crackled along Dana’s overheated flesh, and it took all the strength she had not to grab that hand and pull it up to the V between her legs, where she reallywanted it.
“Besides,” Bethany was saying, “if I move to France, you know I’d take you with me. I wouldn’t make you go back to BFE.”
Dana blew out her lower lip, ruffling her bangs. “What the hell do I know about France? Nothing. I can’t speak the language, I can’t read it, the only thing I know is this.”
Without thinking about it, without even realizing what she was going to do, she turned to Bethany and pressed her lips to her friend’s.
Bethany must have been too stunned to pull away. When Dana’s mouth parted, her tongue eased between Bethany’s lips and Bethany did nothing to stop her from delving in.
At least, not at first. It was heady, finally kissing the woman she loved, and Dana leaned in closer, wanting more. Bethany tasted like sweet like freshly baked bread slathered with fruit and honey, though Dana realized that might be the alcohol in her own system tainting her perception.
And maybe it was the wine that made her think Bethany was kissing her back, but she could’ve sworn she felt Bethany’s tongue brush over hers, tentative, unsure. The hand on her knee squeezed, and a small moan escaped Bethany’s lips when Dana pulled back slightly to catch her breath.
It was all the encouragement Dana needed to sigh, “God, Bethy, I’ve loved you forever, don’t you know that yet?”
Then Bethany pinched her knee, and Dana sat back with a cry. “Ow! What—”
Pushing past her, Bethany rose from the couch. “I’m sorry, but…I’m not—we can’t—”
Confused, Dana frowned up at her friend. “Can’t what? You kissed me back. I thought—”
“We’re just friends, okay?” Bethany’s voice was shaky with fear or tears, maybe both. “I’m sorry if you thought I was…but I’m not. I’m just not.”
Without another word, she hurried away. Dana watched her trail like a shade among shadows through the living room to her bedroom, where she shut the door between them, locking Dana out.
“Great.” Dana glared at the emptiness around her as if it were to blame for the shitty way she felt inside. Her lips tingled from the kiss she’d shared with Bethany—their first, and now their last. When she swallowed, she could still taste her friend on her tongue.
Reaching across the cushion Bethany had just vacated, Dana snagged the bottle of wine and sloshed its contents. There was at least half a bottle left, but nowhere near enough to drown out what she’d done.